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from: Pantagraph.com

Lawmakers head to Vegas for cable TV conference

By Kurt Erickson
kurt.erickson@lee.net
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SPRINGFIELD -- It’s a weekend in Las Vegas for some Illinois lawmakers. With just a month left in the legislative session, an estimated 12 to 14 members of the Illinois House and Senate are spending the next couple of days at a trade show for the cable television industry.

The three-day, expenses-paid junket comes as the cable industry is fighting an attempt by telephone giant AT&T to change state law in a high-stakes battle for the eyes and wallets of television viewers.

Among those jetting to Nevada on Friday was state Rep. Mike Bost, a Murphysboro Republican who says the trip could help him learn more about the issue.

Some lawmakers who were invited on the trip said they declined because they don’t accept freebies from lobby-ing groups.

“I just don’t take these trips,” said one of them, State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa.

While Bost said he’s paying for some of his expenses, he said the Cable Television & Communications Association of Illinois is footing the bill for his hotel and airfare.

Similarly, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, said the trip is educational in nature.

“First, I don’t gamble. Secondly, it’s not being held at a casino,” said Dillard, who plans to arrive Saturday. “I’m out there to see the engineers and chief operating officers of these companies, not lobbyists.”

While in Las Vegas, the lawmakers will be staying at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel, which, according to its Web site, features rooms with flat-panel television screens, a steakhouse called Envy and “convenient monorail access to the Strip.”

At the convention, the lawmakers will get to see exhibitors ranging from HBO to Hustler TV, according to an overview of the conference.

Bost said it was only the third such trip he’s been on in 13 years as a lawmaker.

“It’s very seldom that I’ve taken these kinds of trips,” Bost said.

An industry spokesman Friday wouldn’t release the names of all of the lawmakers who are on the trip. But he said the annual cable television conference generally draws 12 to 14 Illinois lawmakers.

“This is purely – and don’t snicker – educational,” said cable spokesman Gary Mack. “The fact that it is in Las Vegas is unfortunate.”

State ethics rules allow lawmakers to accept trips if they are educational in their purpose.

“The problem is, what is an educational mission?” asked Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

According to a trip itinerary obtained Friday, lawmakers can meet with lobbyists Saturday at Café Ba Ba Reeba!

On Sunday the itinerary has the lawmakers touring the convention at the Mandalay Bay Casino, followed by speeches from top cable company executives from Disney and Time Warner.

In Illinois, the cable industry and some cities are fighting AT&T’s proposal to change video franchising laws. AT&T says their plan will boost competition and drive down prices for consumers, but cable companies say noth-ing is stopping companies like AT&T from getting into the market now.

Municipalities say a statewide franchise law would take away their authority to enforce service standards and could leave customers with either poor or no service.